04-26-06:

                I was just getting out of the shower when Alfred appeared at my door this morning to tell me that Olivia had a favor to ask of me.  I used to get really snippy at people who intruded into my shower time, but after a year of sponge baths I was thankful just for the absolute luxury of hot, running water.  I forgave the boy (because he knew not what he did, as it were) and let him escape gracefully before he started blushing.  I toweled off, dressed quickly and went to Olivia’s room.  She was perched on the bed watching the morning news (Gah! There are still bubble-headed bleached-blonds in the world?  Die die all of you die horribly die!) and drying her hair.  She told me that last night she had also asked to make her tattoo a true holy symbol.  Crom had responded, telling her that she would have to sacrifice something that Vaschanka believed had great importance. So she wanted to know if I would give her those horns we’d found in his bag - the ones that had Felt so disturbing.  Of course I said, “Yes”, I’m glad to get rid of the things!  I got them for her and left her to complete her ritual in private.

                We all eventually met up for a late breakfast and to discuss our plans for the day. Michael asked the concierge where he might find an anvil he could use to make the steel he bought into a betleH for Jesse. The only one the concierge could locate was at the combined Temples we visited yesterday. We asked Armani for a car to take us to the airport. Since this trip would hopefully result in information about Area 51, Connors went with us.

                We went to the admin office and asked for an audience with McCarran. We were told by the flunky with an attitude at the desk that he wasn’t interested in seeing us. “Oh. Really? Caesar assured us that he would be interested,” Olivia told him (giving him one of her very best glares). He scurried off to check. From the waiting room we could see the Janet terminal where the Area 51 planes pick up and drop off their passengers. We saw one of the planes taxi in and load up - Humans and Changelings!  All talking and chatting together like all was right with the world.  In all of this, they’re wearing nice white shirts, slacks, and ties!  The women are wearing frikkin’ HEELS!  A little voice in the back of my head said, “What the Hell?” It took off and almost immediately another arrived to await more passengers.

                Then we saw a plane – a big 747 - with Ka markings taxi up to the terminal. As the passengers got off we saw Changelings, Humans and Orcs. They were all dressed like and behaving like tourists. My skin crawled at the sight of ‘em!  Orcs in Hawaiian shirts with cameras around their necks, and little Bermuda shorts!  Some things are just plain wrong!

                The receptionist returned and told us that McCarran would indeed see us. He sent us up to the control tower.  What is it with these guys and heights?  I could understand it if they were leopards or something…  We found McCarran sitting in the center of the room in a chair that looked just like the captain’s chair from the Enterprise (Next Generation, not the original, Alfred and I agreed.)

                “So, it’s the intrepid explorers who saved our beloved Caesar’s life. What can I do for you?” he asked. I noticed right away (and from everyone else’s reaction, so did they) that something was wrong, different. This guy was an Overlord, right? He looked like one (he was a lynx).  He talked like one. But he didn’t FEEL like one. He seemed to be putting out the whole ‘attitude’ thing, but it didn’t FEEL right!

                Michael asked him, “Are you the Overlord of McCarran?” “You came out here to ask me that?”

                Olivia plunged ahead and said, “We understand that you are in charge of the flights in and out of Area 51.”

                “Yes, you could say that.” “Isn’t it kind of strange that things are running as they were Before?” she asked.

                “No, not really. Are you here to place an order?” Olivia asked what kind of quantity he was capable of handling. He said, “We can do bulk.”

                After some further questioning we figured that “bulk” meant 20 or so. Not exactly what we had in mind. I asked him if the Janet planes are the ones he uses to transport the slaves out. “They are the only ones allowed to approach the area.”

                Michael asked if he had a ‘catalog’ for us to choose from.  McCarran signaled to someone who brought out a banker’s box filled with cards. “This is our current inventory. But we can find most anything you need,” he said as he gestured us forward to look. Olivia and Michael flipped thru the box trying to get an estimate of how many they were looking at. Olivia told me later, probably a couple thousand! There were pictures of men, women, children, and entire families, and all the races we’ve encountered so far. The cards all had ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures. The ‘before’ pictures all seemed to be from driver’s licenses, work ID’s or school ID’s.

                Michael asked about a Winged Elf, he hadn’t seen one before.  McCarran promised to have one delivered tomorrow. “Which one do you like?” McCarran asked. Olivia picked one pretty much at random and handed him the card. He wanted his money up front and Alfred gave it to him.

                Olivia had seen some children in the Drow section and asked, “How much for them? Is there a discount?” He smiled in a really creepy way, “Yes, I’ll give you 30% off, they’re such a handful. But I would prefer you to pick an orphan. I so hate to break up a family.” She picked thru the cards and found 14 orphans. She pretended indifference as she handed the cards over, “These will do.” He quoted us a price of $35,000.00 for them all and told her that they’ll be here along with the Winged Elf, tomorrow, 9:00 am, concourse B.

                Alfred paid him and as McCarran took the chips, his grin got even eerier and his stumpy little tail started to fluff up and bob around quite cheerfully. I don’t know how the rest restrained themselves, but it took everything I had to not draw my sword on the creep. He thanked us for our business and told us to give his regards to his good friend, Caesar.

                As we were about to leave, one of the air traffic controllers jumped out of his chair and said, “Holy shit!”  Not something you want to hear in an air traffic control tower!  Our escort tied to hurry us out, but we caught a quick peek at the controller’s screen and saw 3 large blips being shadowed by a bunch of smaller ones.

                We got back to the car and asked the driver to go around the corner and park for a bit so we could see what was coming in. About 15 minutes later we saw what Connors ID'd as 3 C-130 transports with F-16 and 18 fighters flying escort. And above them all, F-117 stealth fighters flying high cover. They remained in formation while the transports moved in to land. The first C-130 landed and while it was still taxiing, a number of assault vehicles (Hummers, armed dune buggies, etc) raced down the rear ramp and spread out to secure the area. The second one landed and unloaded troop transports filled with armed soldiers. The third one landed and more sedately unloaded a heavily armored Hummer limo and an entire brass band! Once again, a little voice in the back of my head said, "What the Hell?"

                As we watched all that, a Hummer approached our car and a man in a suit came over and 'asked' us all to get out of the car. We did and he ID'd himself as a Secret Service agent and asked us our business. We showed him our papers ID'ing us as Ambassadors from Malcolm. He told us that Jesse will be summoning us soon, "But I really must insist that you leave this area, now." So we did.

                Olivia asked our driver to call ahead to Armani and ask if Caesar would see us ASAP. The driver reported that Armani would take us to Caesar. Armani was, as always, waiting and took us back up to Caesar's office. He already knew about the newest arrivals at the airport. I wondered idly if Olivia was taking notes on ideas for improving her own spy network when we get home.

                Olivia asked Caesar, "When was the last time you saw McCarran?" "It's been a few months, he keeps canceling our meetings. But always with legitimate excuses. Why?" We told him that something was very, very wrong and we didn't think that that was really McCarran we'd met. Olivia and I tried to explain how he didn't 'feel' right. I said, "He felt really creepy." Caesar said, "Don't you think we're ALL creepy?" I insisted, "No. Not at all, but this guy was creepy." Caesar looked like he was inclined to dismiss it completely, but he gave us the benefit of the doubt. He pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Do you have anything more solid than a 'feeling'?"

                Then I remembered something. "Yes! Children! The night we arrived here, I asked your border guards if there was anything that was forbidden to trade. They told us 'Children. Don't buy, sell, or harm any child in anyway, and you'll be just fine'."

                Caesar looked wary. "And?"

                "And, not only did this 'thing' just sell us 14 children, he was really quite happy to do so. He took a distinct delight in doing it."

                Caesar shook his head, "That's wrong. Bring the children here tomorrow as soon as you pick them up. McCarran would not be doing that. That is not McCarran." He was really quite disturbed, his ears were laid back, his tail straight. We were interrupted by a buzz from the intercom; his aide told him that a Secret Service agent was there to see him. Caesar told her, "Make him comfortable, I'm busy."

                Olivia then asked why there were Changelings among the group going out to Area 51. "Why wouldn't there be?" he asked. So we explained that right after the change the CDC and the NSA were rounding people up (both those already Changed and those who only tested positive) and taking them to Manzanar where they could be isolated from the population, as 'dangerous creatures' should be. "But now they're letting them come and go at will? Doesn't that seem strange to you?"

                He shrugged, "We never thought about it. It was never an issue." Then I said, "Did you know that we ran into the Queen Scro in the market last night?"

                The bastard nodded, not even looking interested. "I heard she was in town, yes."

                "And how did she find out about the summit?" I asked. He shrugged, and said, "One of the Overlords she deals with must have told her." We just gaped at him for a moment.

                "We thought this was supposed to be a secret?!?!?!" we all yelled.

                "Not from the other Overlords." He actually seemed amazed that we were upset about it! We were all pretty appalled. How do these guys ever get anything accomplished?

                He tried to distract us by going back to the other subject; "I must find time to go 'visit' McCarran tomorrow." Olivia and I told him to be careful; "We want YOU to come back." Then Olivia asked him if his shapechanger is the only one in town. He answered very quickly, "Yes." Olivia asked Caesar to summon him and have him assume the form of an Overlord so we could see what it 'feels' like. While we were waiting for him to arrive Caesar offered us refreshments, "Where are my manners?" Olivia and I had the same thought: probably the same place you left your brains!!

                Armani came into the room, but it wasn't him, it was the shapechanger. He quickly resumed his natural form. He looked like the stereotypical alien from all the reports in the 80's and 90's: gray skin, big head, oversized black eyes.
Caesar commanded him to assume the likeness of Excalibur; he blurred and there was Excalibur standing there. We all agreed, it was the same 'feeling'. Caesar commanded him to change back and he did.

                Olivia asked him, "Are there others of your kind?" He gave her a lifeless shrug and half-lisped & half-whispered, "We do not discuss that with outsiders." (Okay, but you just answered the question, I thought to myself.) Caesar asked him, "Has one of your kind replaced McCarran?" Again, he made that boneless slumping motion. "Not that I am aware of. But we are not social creatures. We are parasites, not symbionts."

                Olivia then asked him, "Can you teach us how to detect your kind?" He didn't really look upset by the question, but wouldn't answer it directly. All he'd say was "Look for the mistakes, the differences." Caesar dismissed him, and told his aide to send in the Secret Service guy. Michael asked if we could stay. "Of course." Caesar said.
He came in and introduced himself; "I'm here to discuss the arrangements for President Ventura's meetings and security." Then he turned from Caesar to us and addressed each of us by name:

                "Owens-Hughes, Jacinta; Winterfield, Michael; Mitchell, Olivia; Yazzie, Alfred; Harper, Vesta; and Captain Connors, Sylvia. A great pleasure to meet you all." He gave each of us a security pass with our photo on it. (Post Change photos! When were they taken?) He told us that they would give us access to the summit meetings. As he handed Olivia her pass, he told her that Jesse's Social Secretary had a personal letter for her.

                She arrived almost immediately. She too, is Klingon. A Klingon named Betty! (And for some reason, she didn't think that was nearly as funny as I did.) She handed an envelope to Olivia and said, "The President asked that I deliver this to you, with the compliments of his House." Olivia ripped it open and showed it to us. All it said was "Hard Rock Café, tonite, 7:30 PM."

                We warned the agent (and Betty. Betty the Klingon.) about the possible ShapeChanger at the airport and that Jesse should not be allowed to meet with McCarran for any reason. The agent got on his wrist radio and sent the warning. I started talking into my wrist; "I always wanted to be a Secret Service agent so I could talk up my sleeve. Is it very exciting?" He smiled at me (Well I guess he would consider it a smile) and said, "Always."

                I said (to my wrist), "So, where is Jesse going to be staying?" "That is what I am here to discuss." I said (to my wrist again) "You mean Jesse's just going to circle the block for awhile?" "That is what I am here to discuss"
Then Alfred joined in the fun and we had a conversation back and forth about nothing, all the while talking to our wrists. The agent just 'smiled' patiently at us. Olivia asked, "Will we be able to see Jesse soon?" "That is what I am here to discuss"

                At that point, Caesar caught on to what the agent wasn't saying and asked us to excuse them while they discuss the details. I said (to my wrist, of course) "Roger Wilco! Over and out! We will wait for further instructions." and we left the office.

                After being “thrown out” of Caesar’s office, we had a discussion on how to spend the rest of the day- or at least ‘til 7:30. I asked Olivia, “I hope you don’t think you’re going alone. I know what you think it’s going to be, and I hope your right. But I’m going with you.” “Someone has to watch your back,” said Alfred.

                “So that’s settled - we’re going with you” said Connors. Vesta nodded in agreement, “Yep, the whole troop.”  Olivia told us we were more than welcome to go with her. (As if she could have stopped us.) Michael told me, “You know that thing you did yesterday? When you froze that guy in a block of ice? You should figure out how to do that on purpose.”

                “Practice on pigeons” Alfred said with a glare. I patted his arm and promised him that I would. Michael went to ask at the Temple of Crom if he could use their forge. The rest of us, Olivia, Alfred, Connors and I took Vesta back to Fremont for more shopping.

                Olivia saw a booth selling tactical vests (marked CDC, FBI, Police, etc) and some high tech looking stuff. She turned to Connors and asked, “Can we use any of this stuff?” Connors said, “I don’t know what you’re looking for. Damnit Olivia, I'm a recon photo analyst, not a spook!”  Olivia asked the guy if he had any wireless communications systems.  He asked to see the color of our chips, and Alfred obliged him. When he saw the pile of black chips, his attitude improved immeasurably. I could really get used to this sucking-up!

                He came up with 5 sets of subvocal throat radios with a mile range, but that was about it.  He charged us $3,000.00 each (including 2 extra batteries for each set), and told us the batteries should last 12 hours if used continuously. Unfortunately, he had no charger to sell. He told us to keep our eyes open for re-chargers of ANY kind; they’re a hot commodity. Connors asked for a locator device of some kind. “Do you want to follow someone or just see where they end up?” Connors said "Find out where they wind up." He nodded, then looked thru some boxes and came up with a GPS locator that will start broadcasting when it becomes stationary for 2 minutes. Olivia asked. “How much?” “I charge on a scale; you folk look pretty flush, so $10,000.00 for it and the device to follow it.” We paid and the guy laughed at us, “I would have taken $5,000.00.” Alfred slapped him on the back and laughed louder, “We would have paid $50,000.00!” We thanked him and moved on.

                We decided to go back to the Palace and spend a day being pampered. Massages, facials, manicures, the works. When we were done we met up with Alfred who told us that Michael had come back from the Temple to get some things and had left us a message. He said that the Priest of Crom told him he could use their machine shop. And while he’d been showing it to Michael, he noticed that among lots of other stuff, they had a laser cutter! So, Michael came back to get the steel to make Jesse’s betleH, the claws to make some deadly jewelry for Vesta (Alfred told me that later, it’s supposed to be a secret) and the silksteel. Michael had asked Alfred to make sure I got measurements for everybody so he could start cutting the silksteel, and to ask Olivia to have a go at duplicating the fusing liquid. But right now, just getting the pieces cut is a good start. So we retired to the suites and I started measuring people. Olivia gave a couple of good tries at the liquid, but she just couldn't get it. Once she was really close, but the next attempt resulted in chocolate syrup. “I’m going to have to remember that one,” she said to herself.

                She stopped when she’d given herself a headache and realized it was almost time to get going. She called the concierge for “Something for a headache.” A couple of minutes later the doorbell rang and Alfred let in an Orion woman. She made the headache go away all right! We all showered and headed for the Hard Rock.

                We got there about 7:20 and got a table. We’d been sitting for quite some time when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I was just about to nudge Olivia when there was a flash of something shiny and all the sudden a man was holding a K-Bar to Olivia’s throat! Alfred jumped up but Connors got him to sit by simply putting a hand on his arm. “Got ya again, Olivia!” the guy yelled. Olivia yelled, “Leo!” and jumped to her feet. They hugged and Leo said, “I’d been sneaking up on you for 15 minutes; shame on you!”

                Olivia introduced us all and said to Leo,” I thought you were pinned down in San Diego by the Scro.” Leo said that it was a long story, “I’m not here by accident. President Ventura sent me for a reason.” Then he told us that just yesterday morning he’d been reassigned to Jesse’s forces in Omaha. And then last night he was told that he’d be coming to Vegas with the advance team for the President. “I owe him a present,” Olivia said.

                “Yes you do. The President has asked me to do something for him. He told me that I was needed to help train his forces in unconventional warfare and to talk some sense into my sister. He wants me to ask you to convince your King to back his plan to reunify the country. You have a lot of power and influence and he wants you to use it. Your Kingdom has been very successful. Both it and you (he looked at all of us at the table) have helped the President on several occasions. Even giving him back his life, I hear tell. You’ve done a Hell of a job and the President recognizes that fact. And if King Malcolm does transfer his power over to him, President Ventura assures me that you and your friends are all looking at positions of real power.” 

                I sang (under my breath, not sure if anyone heard me or not), “Knick, knack, paddy-whack throw the dog a bone.” The rest of the group was completely silent. I’m not sure if it was because we were speechless or if we were trying not to offend Olivia by demanding that her brother shut the Hell up. Olivia was openly skeptical (but since Leo doesn’t know the new Olivia, I don’t know if he caught it or not), “There’s a small problem. Malcolm can’t do it.”

                “Why not?” he asked. So Olivia explained the ceremony that bound Malcolm to the Land and vice-versa. Leo (who obviously did not understand what she was talking about) asked if he could just transfer the responsibility. Alfred said very quietly, “Yes, King Malcolm could hand him the King Sword and we could all watch to see if the Land accepts the President. That could be very interesting.”

                I don’t know if Leo didn’t hear Alfred or if he chose to ignore him. Olivia told him that Jesse would have to talk to Malcolm about it, and she agreed to present the idea to him. Leo told her, “You’re not stupid, I’ve always known that. You're a political science major; you know what's going down. I’m sure you’ll do the right thing when the time comes.”

                Olivia shook her head and said, “Well you know, Leo, Humpty Dumpty ain’t gonna be so easy to put back together again.” Leo replied, "Too bad for mister-fucking-Dumpty. Yes, the old world is gone, but this is still the United States of America and Jesse Ventura is still the President. This country is never going to get back on its feet unless there is a strong, central, legitimate authority to take control of the situation. All we have now is a bunch of penny-ante refugee camps and warlord wannabees." He went on about how Jesse planned to reunite the country, and how everybody was just gonna have to like it. Then he kinda blew what he’d said earlier right out of the water. Instead of telling us how well the Kingdom had done, he started pointing out inadequacies and faults. He kept getting more and more worked up.

                Olivia stopped him and asked him to clarify something for her. Jesse was repaying us for saving his life by asking us to do him a favor? “That’s more Romulan than Klingon.” Leo got deathly quiet and said, “He’ll kill you if he ever hears you said that.” Then he tried to lighten things up by telling Olivia how he’d looked forward to seeing her again. Olivia told him that Cordelia would be here in a few days, too.  He seemed glad to hear that and called a waiter over so we could get down to some serious drinking. He asked to hear some of our stories of what we’d seen and done since the Change.

                I got the distinct feeling that he didn’t believe any of them. He’s been cooped up on a ship and doesn’t really know what’s been going on.

                He told us that he and his group is staying out at Nellis. Olivia asked, “Isn’t that near Groom Lake? And don’t ell us it doesn’t exist!” Leo nodded. “The President wants to know what’s going on out at Manzanar, too, you know” he said. Olivia sneered, “Yeah, well he’s really putting himself out trying to figure it out, isn’t he?”

                Leo got defensive. “He’s got priorities. Why aren’t you checking it out if you’re so concerned?” Olivia told him that we’re working on it. I just wanted to slap his arrogant face and tell him, “Besides, there are only 6 of us and a suped-up RV. Jesse’s got a whole fucking army, an Air Force, and a fucking killer satellite, you smug son of a bitch!” But I just kept biting my tongue.

                Then Leo said, “From what I hear you won’t find much. It’s hot…” we all finished the rest for him, “And there’s nothing to do.” “Yeah we keep hearing that” Olivia told him. Then he surprised me and said, “Well, if you decide to go out there before the President leaves, let me know and I’ll request leave.”

                Olivia asked, “Why not request it anyway?” He pondered for a minute, and we all could see him contemplating how much extra time this would give him to woo Olivia over to his side. He agreed to ask his C.O. and said he would get back with us as soon as he could. Olivia told him that if it was approved he should meet us at the Palace and we’d find him a room. He promised to ask, gave her a hug and left. Connors spoke up for the first time.“Let’s get back to our rooms.”  As we left, Vesta said, “If there’s going to be any kind of decisions made, we need to go get Michael.” We all agreed, so we swung by the Temple and Olivia went in to ask for him. The Priest said he would go get him, then came back and said, “He’s cleaning up. Give him 15 minutes.” Michael finally appeared and asked what was up. Olivia told him that the group needed to talk.

                We filled him in on what had been said and finished just as we got to the Palace. We were quiet up to our rooms and waited until Connors checked them out and declared it safe to talk. Olivia started by saying that she didn’t think that Malcolm had a choice. He was bound in Sacred Marriage to the Land. That wasn’t something he could just walk away from. We all agreed, and Alfred said, “The only way to do it would be if Malcolm passed the King Sword to Jesse.” “And if the sword accepts him” I said. Michael expressed his opinion that Jesse seems to be living on a dream, and no one disagreed. Then we asked Olivia about Leo. Was she sure that was really him? She nodded and said that she was. "Have you ever known him to be so political?", Vesta asked. Connors answered that one:“He’s just following orders. He took an oath - the same one I did.” 

                I asked again, “Why are so many people trying so hard to keep us away from Area 51?” Then Connors told us some things that she’d never told us before, about before she took oath to Malcolm. She told us that the NSA had been given a list of specific people to be round up and then sent to Manzanar. They were described as “Potentially Positive”. There was a second list of “Potentially Positive” people who they were instructed not to arrest, but to assist in any way possible.

                Olivia asked her if she still had those lists, but no, she’d long since gotten rid of them. Michael asked, “What about that ‘first aid kit’ we took from that wrecked CDC vehicle last year? The one that had the cyanide death masks in it. It’s still in the Scooby-Van, and we’ve never really searched it thoroughly.” Connors looked astonished and said, “We’ve got one of those things? Get it!”

                Alfred and Michael went down and brought up the whole case. Connors seemed very upset when she saw it. She opened it and pulled a laptop out of a compartment underneath the masks. After struggling to remember her old passwords, she finally got into it.

                Olivia asked if we could look up her file. It came up very quickly. It had her driver's license picture, income records, school records, work history and a note that said she had a ‘Positive Risk’ of 25%. Then we looked up Leo. Same sort of info, but when the file was created he was listed as AWOL. There were orders to apprehend him and take him to the nearest military compound for isolating Positives. It then went on to describe his SEAL training and warned that he was to be considered extremely dangerous.

                But Cordelia’s file, that was interesting. She was listed as a ‘Positive Risk’ of 100% under the right circumstances! The file said that she was not too be picked up for any reason because she was assigned to intake and assessment. Then there was a note that she had 2 family members, both of who had a high probability of Change. “If either is picked up, do not tell the subject,” it said.

                Connors was quiet for a bit, then said that she was going to go talk to Lucifer about borrowing his helicopter tomorrow. Olivia had suggested that someone should visit Dallas soon, just to see how he’s doing. Connors said she would do that after talking to Lucifer. As she left she was clearly upset. I was just about to go after her when Alfred got up and said, “She is ashamed that she had any part of this. I'll go with her and make sure she’s okay.” Before he left I gave him one of the radios we’d bought earlier.

                As he left, Leo arrived carrying a small duffel. Not surprisingly, his C.O. gave him leave until Jesse shows up, citing the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ of finding family members. As Michael introduced himself, Olivia and I surreptitiously hid the laptop. Michael excused himself to go back to the Temple to continue his work. We told him we’d pick him up on our way to the airport in the morning and gave him one of the new radios, too.

                Leo looked around the suite and whistled, “You’re in pretty tight with this Caesar, aren’t you? What’s he like?” Olivia said, “Okay. He’s different, that’s for sure.”

                Leo asked what we were planning for tomorrow. “Going out to the airport to pick up a shipment.” “People are still sending things by air?” he asked. “Yeah,” I said, “Slaves.” He didn’t have anything to say to that. Olivia called the concierge to see about arranging transportation for the people we’re picking up tomorrow. The concierge assured her that it had already been taken care of, and that Caesar would be accompanying us in the morning. Olivia thanked her and asked to have a late dinner sent up to the room.

                We stayed up talking about nonpolitical things until Alfred called from the Bellagio. He said that Connors had made the arrangements and that they were just going to spend the night there, since it was so late. Then we set up a bed for Leo and called it a night.

continued...